Doro inu / どろ犬 (aka 'The Desperate', 1964)

Obscure Japanese Film #85

Minoru Oki

This Toei production stars Minoru Oki (perhaps best known as the main cop in the 1958 classic Stakeout) in another rare leading role as Cho, a respected senior detective with 20 years’ service under his belt. He seems himself as a good guy and hates criminals with a passion, but he also secretly keeps a mistress, Chiyo (Chisako Hara), who is the wife of a yakuza currently spending time behind bars. Unfortunately for him, a slimy blackmailer, Yamaguchi (Ko Nishimura, who else?), finds out about this relationship and uses the information to compromise Cho. Things are further complicated by an unlikely friendship that develops between Chiyo and Yamaguchi’s brother (Kunie Tanaka), who has learning difficulties, and by Cho’s colleague, Detective Tokumochi (Hisashi Igawa), who has known Yamaguchi since they were children. As Cho struggles to keep both his reputation and self-respect intact, he finds himself increasingly on the wrong side of the law he has sworn to uphold…

Ko Nishimura

 

Based on a 1963 novel by Shoji Yuki entitled Yoru no owaru toki (‘When the Night Ends’), this obscure noir is a real find. The dark, shadowy cinematography of Masahiko Iimura suggests a world of perpetual night, Masaru Sato provides an excellent modernist score, and there’s a typically memorable performance by the great Ko Nishimura, probably the closest thing the Japanese cinema had to Peter Lorre. He must have been a dedicated actor, too, as in one scene he allows himself to be literally thrown around a room for several minutes – without the aid of a stunt double – by Minoru Oki, perhaps as punishment for stealing the movie. 

 

Kunie Tanaka and Chisako Hara

 

Debut director Takaharu Saeki (1927-2018), who had worked as an assistant to Tomotoka Tasaka, handles all aspects with admirable skill, so why, you may ask, did he not make another feature film for 20 years? It turns out that shortly after completing this picture, he led a demonstration outside the home of Toei president Hiroshi Okawa, who promptly had him exiled to their TV production arm. In 1984, he finally got a chance to make one more film; entitled A Train Ran on the Plateau, it has long since fallen into obscurity. 

 

Hisashi Igawa

 

The Japanese title translates uneasily to English. ‘Inu’ means ‘dog’, but ‘doro’ can mean ‘mud’ or ‘thief’, so it’s unclear which meaning is intended, which is perhaps why the subtitler of the print I saw has christened the film ‘The Desperate.’ Kudos to them, anyway, as they have done a fine job. 

 

Ko Nishimura